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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555757">RWBY's Bizarre Adventure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyndsyte/pseuds/Hyndsyte'>Hyndsyte</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen, RWBY characters with Stands, That's it, That's the whole premise, does this count as a crossover?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:01:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyndsyte/pseuds/Hyndsyte</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Strange things are happening all the time in Vale, but nothing so strange as the events that Ruby Rose finds herself in seemingly every day. It's hard enough to deal with school and a part-time job, but now she's face-to-face with a wide variety of enemies. What's more, she's hot on the trail of a greater foe, and a sinister plot for the fate of the city.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Red Like Roses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Vale Museum of Archaeology comes under attack by a group of thieves. One Ruby Rose takes it on herself to mop up the mess they've made, employing a strange power to do so. As she will quickly discover, however, she is not the only one with these abilities.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Museum of Archaeology, Vale City, 21:20, Friday</p><hr/><p>The Vale Museum of Archaeology is quiet on the busiest days. A full selection of displays dating back from antiquity to prehistory depict ceramics, clothes and draperies, and weapons of hunting and war decorate the building’s interior, accompanied by informative plaques for each and every piece. These plaques, fact-checked by every professional historian the museum’s curator could afford to contact, would be most useful to the man entering the lobby.</p><p>He’d dressed up for the evening, sporting a white suit jacket and black pants, while a black bowler hat sat half-cocked on a head of orange hair. He and the entourage of black-dressed henchmen he’d employed dispersed through the building as they entered. Just as rehearsed, he and one of them approached the information desk. “Excuse me, sir,” he greeted in a practiced, friendly tone, “but where would I find exhibits relating to faunus history?” He smiled when the old man at the desk pointed him up the stairs. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make this fast.”</p><p>The man clicked his fingers, the cue for every thug that came with him into the building to pull their weapons. Every security guard was pacified and disarmed, the doors locked, and the museum’s guests now trapped inside. As he saw several thugs begin taking out security cameras, the old receptionist was shaking, his hands above the desk out of fear for his life. He gave a cautious glance down to the button underneath, just out of reach.</p><p>“Right about now, you’re probably thinking something like, ‘If I’m fast, I might be able to hit the silent alarm, even if it means getting shot,’ right?”</p><p>The old man looked back up at the two criminals in shock. “Yeah,” the man in the white jacket said, lighting up a cigar, “the last three receptionists thought that too. Take it from them, grandpa: don’t be a hero, you’ll live longer.” He took a puff. “Up the stairs, right?”</p><p>He ascended the short flight and addressed the panicked crowd, twirling his cane in a practiced manner. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll just pipe down, this will be over before you know it. Don’t even think of calling the police; I know for a fact that the cell reception in this museum is terrible, not to mention the fact that we’ll be gone before they can get here.”</p><p>As the crook browsed, another of his men spotted a visitor who didn’t seem to get the memo. Some girl with her back turned was looking over the museum pamphlets, wearing a black dress with red lace and matching boots, her face hidden by the bright red hood covering her head. “Hey!” The grunt marched over to the girl. “Get on the ground, kid!”</p><p>When she didn’t respond, he angrily spun her around. Her hood came down, revealing a set of headphones over dark auburn hair. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen, but that wasn’t going to earn her any slack. “Are you stupid?” the thug asked as she took the device off her ears. “Get on the ground and don’t move!”</p><p>The girl cast her big silver eyes past him, seeing a number of other people complying with this apparently blanket order. About three other similarly dressed goons were watching over them, presumably more around the building, and she could see the man in the white coat in the next room perusing one of the pieces on display. “Are you guys robbing the museum?” She asked.</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>“Oh…!”</p><p>Something like a sledgehammer struck the thug in the stomach. He couldn’t see it, whatever it was, but it did a good job of knocking the wind out of him. His boss turned from the display just in time to watch him get sent flying. The man raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued enough to look at the assailant. The teenager walked forward, stopping in the doorway of the room as she hit a button on what looked like a music player. He chewed the end of his cigar. “Okay…” he drawled curiously, glancing at his remaining entourage. “Get her.”</p><p>Two more henchmen closed in on her, but met the same result as their friend. The first received three swift blows to the chest, each hitting as hard as a champion boxer before sending him tumbling to the ground. The second took a blow to the head, spinning on his heel before a strike to the back launched him into the wall.</p><p>What they couldn’t see was the thing that was so handily dispatching them projecting out of this otherwise unassuming teenager: a feminine figure, lithe, powerful, and scarlet red. A crimson cape flowed behind it from around its shoulders as it skated an inch off the ground. “These people just wanted to learn about history,” the girl in red declared. As she approached, the man in white cautiously stepped back. Three more goons appeared through the door, but were defeated just as quickly as the last. “What do you have to say for yourself?”</p><p>The man chuckled, tapping the ash off the end of his cigar. “I’d say what you’re doing to my men is a bit unfair, wouldn’t you agree? How are they supposed to fight something they can’t even see or touch?” He leaned forward. “Although I have to say, tonight is just a treat.”</p><p>The red figure lunged for him, but the man quickly stopped the attack with his cane. The girl paused in surprise. “Ah, but next you’re probably going to say something like...”</p><p>“ ‘You shouldn’t even be able to see my Stand, but you blocked it effortlessly!’ ”</p><p>“...am I right?”</p><p>The crook used the girl’s momentary hesitation to bat her Stand aside. “Predictable goody-goodies like you might just be my favorite thing in this world, Little Red.” A spectral, white-and-orange arm manifested briefly over his own, allowing him to crack his cane over the young Stand’s shoulder.</p><p>The girl grunted, holding her arm as she fell to a knee. A sharp pain surged its way down her limb. “Fast and precise, but can’t take a punch,” the man noted, almost as if he were critiquing the girl’s Stand. He stepped back as it rounded on him, coming just short of actually hitting him. “From the look of things, its range is about six meters…” Another pair of blows sent the Stand back to its owner. “Listen, kid, because I’m going to give you the rundown on how this plays out. You see, I don’t much care to show you my Stand in full - that’s why you’re only getting a small taste - but at worst, my [Soft Criminal] is stronger and more resilient than that miserable excuse you’re throwing at me. What’s more, I could attack you safely from nearly three times your range with no impact to my own power. The only reason I haven’t already is the off chance you’ll survive the pummeling I’ll put you through.”</p><p>He waved dismissively. “Make this easy on the both of us, Red. Stay down like a good little girl and don’t get up until I leave with what I’m -”</p><p>“Ruby.”</p><p>The man stopped. “...Excuse me?”</p><p>“My name is Ruby.” The girl, apparently Ruby, staggered to her feet. “After all that’s happened here, you never bothered to ask.” She pointed defiantly at her opponent. “I thought it would only be fair that you know the name of the person that stops you!”</p><hr/><p><b>Stand Name:</b> [Red Like Roses]</p><p><b>Stand Master:</b> Ruby Rose</p><p><b>Power:</b> C</p><p><b>Speed:</b> A</p><p><b>Range:</b> C</p><p><b>Persistence:</b> D</p><p><b>Precision:</b> A</p><p><b>Potential:</b> A</p><hr/><p>There was a pause, but the enemy Stand user began to chuckle, which quickly turned into full-blown laughter. “That’s rich! Do you even realize how ridiculous what you just said is? You’re going to beat me after I’ve laid bare almost everything that puts me above you?”</p><p>“[Rose Red]!” Ruby called, her Stand now brimming with energy as it charged forth.</p><p>“Your pathetic Stand can’t even reach me from -!”</p><p>But [Rose Red] was on him in the blink of an eye, having moved well past the six-meter mark he had set. “What?!” The Stand’s fist connected with the crook’s body so quickly he could barely react. A flurry of punches tossed him like a ragdoll across the room. The man glowered at Ruby as she stepped to keep him in range. <em> That brat! She plays inexperience, but she’s aware of her abilities enough to fake them?! </em> The hand of [Soft Criminal] bit into the floor, slowing him to a halt before he could crash into one of the displays. He picked himself up, leaning on the glass as he held one hand up to the girl. “N-now hold on -!” he gasped through bruised ribs.</p><p>“Why should I listen to someone who robs a museum for kicks?” Ruby crossed her arms, [Rose Red] coming to rest just in front of her.</p><p>The man in white grinned. “Because if you keep on beating me the way you are, I’ll lose focus and one of these bystanders will die.”</p><p>Ruby looked worriedly at the hostages still cowering from the unseen battle unfolding in front of them. They began to murmur with worried confusion. “You’re bluffing.”</p><p>“Am I? All I have to do is look at someone - say…” He pointed to a woman in the crowd, “...her, for example. As long as I’m focused on her, she’s safe, and I can even let her go whenever I want. But I’m not really a fighter, and wounds are distracting; if I lose my focus on her, her blood will boil like lava, melting her from the inside out.”</p><p>Ruby gulped. <em> Darn it, I can’t tell if he’s lying! I have to stop him, but if he’s actually capable of that…  </em>“If you’re not a fighter, then what was all of that just a minute ago?”</p><p>“I was overconfident. You saw how I misjudged the range of your Stand, just look how I payed for it!” He gestured weakly to himself, pointing out his broken nose and the blood running from his lip, as well as the new cuts across his face. His outfit, pristine at the start of their battle, was battered and all but torn asunder. He glanced down, spotting the plaque for the display he was propped against. “So here’s the brakes, kiddo,” the thief said, growing more bold as he rose, resting his elbows on the glass, “I’m going to leave, safe and sound. Once I’m gone, I’ll lift [Soft Criminal]’s power off of her. We can pretend we never saw each other.”</p><p>As he spoke, [Soft Criminal]’s hand appeared behind his back. <em> Of course, that’s all a lie. You think you have me cornered, but now you’ll be too scared to even touch me. </em> The spectral hand slipped through the glass pane of the display case, seizing its contents. <em> And [Soft Criminal] can’t melt people, but it can permeate through any barrier without disturbing it. It can even drag objects and people along. The perfect power for the perfect thief! </em></p><p>Ruby felt a flash of inspiration as her look turned to one of confidence. “I don’t believe what you’re saying is true, especially since you’ve already lied once about your Stand’s abilities.”</p><p><em> What! </em> The thief stifled a gasp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p><p>“You said before that yours is stronger, more resilient, and can attack me from three times my range. You thought my range was six meters, but it’s ten. You would still have the advantage at nearly eighteen, so I’m positive you would have attacked me if you were as desperate as you sound. That tells me your actual range can’t be more than mine.” The man scowled as Ruby held one finger to her temple. “Now you say that your Stand’s power lets you melt people if you stop focusing on them involuntarily. If that’s the case, why would you pick a random stranger in the crowd and not me, the person it would most benefit you to get rid of right now…”</p><p>She pointed at him with determined accusation. “...unless you figured out already that I would gladly put my own life on the line to protect any of these innocent people, even if they’re complete strangers! I might not know your power for certain, but that tells me I can safely beat the daylights out of you!”</p><p>The man in white smiled again as he leered at her. Was he getting smaller? “Brilliant deductive reasoning, Red, but too little too late. Like I said, I’m going to leave, safe and sound. I even have what I came here for; this could only have gone better if you hadn’t gotten involved! See ya, kid!”</p><p>Ruby sent [Rose Red] after him, but its fist collided with the empty floor. He had sunk through, and Ruby couldn’t follow directly after him. She let out a frustrated noise. <em> Great, so either he can pass through walls, or else he can teleport. </em> She looked at the crowd of hostages. “Are you all alright?” Once everyone was calm enough to confirm, Ruby ran as fast as she could down to the front desk. “Sir? Mister Receptionist, are you alright?” The old man nodded, still rattled. “Did you see a man in a white suit run through here?”</p><p>“No, he never came down. But as soon as that thug that was with him ran upstairs, I managed to hit the alarm.”</p><p>“Alright, stay here and stay hidden until the police show up. I’m going to look for him.”</p><p>“Okay. Please be careful, miss.”</p><p>But Ruby couldn’t find the man in white after that. Her guess was that he ran off after disappearing. When the police finally arrived, she decided that saying she didn’t know what happened to the henchmen was easier to believe than her fighting them off, with or without a Stand. She didn’t have an explanation for how the thief had taken the display’s contents. What had he taken anyway, and why? Everything in the museum was either old and crude or easily recognizable, so he couldn’t sell any of it.</p><p>Ruby decided to let it go for the time being. She knew the police definitely wouldn’t be able to handle someone with a Stand like that, but she also knew she couldn’t do anything herself without more information. Once she was cleared to leave, she started for home, pulling her phone out of her pocket to call ahead.</p><p><em> “Xiao Long residence,” </em> came the familiar voice on the other end.</p><p>“Hey, sis,” Ruby responded.</p><p>
  <em> “There you are! You’re usually back home by now, what gives?” </em>
</p><p>“I’ll tell you when I get there. It’s got to do with you-know-what.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This story came about after, of all things, I was skulking on Reddit. I was recommended a subreddit called r/RWBYsBizarreAdventure, a small niche community with fewer than a thousand followers as of writing this, and I was hooked on the memes and ideas of both these communities coming together. One topic that came about in the sporadic posts made on the sub was various RWBY characters with Stands, and I thought that was a really cool idea. Browsing around this site, though, out of the conservatively hundreds of RWBY/JJBA crossover stories I saw, they were almost exclusively the standard "Universe A cast meets Universe B cast, hijinks ensue" premise. The closest to the concept I was looking for were a couple of works where one or two members of the RWBY cast were given existing Stands from JoJo; the immediate example I can think of is one where Jaune is given [Killer Queen] from Part 4, which is great, but not what I'm looking for. So I decided, "Fine, I'll do it myself." Surprisingly, "RWBY's Bizarre Adventure" wasn't already taken by some bigger, better story. I'm not going to pretend I'm some creative genius for writing this story, but I feel a strange sense of pride in the fact that I hadn't seen another like this before I started.</p><p>The main issue was coming up with original Stand names. My first instinct was to use just those song titles from the RWBY soundtrack, giving each character a Stand named after their theme song, but I figured out pretty quickly that that wasn't going to work; some characters had to share their theme song (Emerald and Mercury) while others had no theme to speak of (Roman and Ren). Others still, namely the core four, wound up with multiple theme songs (I'm pretty sure Yang has three at this point). So I started small. A popular pick on the subreddit for Ruby's Stand was [Guns and Roses]. While clever, I still wanted to keep the spirit of my initial idea intact, so I made Ruby the only character whose Stand would be named after her theme song, and [Red Like Roses] was born. I also decided I was going to be funny by giving every Stand a "dub name," to be used throughout the actual narrative. Ruby has [Rose Red], the thief in Chapter 1 who is totally not Roman wink-wink has [Soft Criminal], and so on.</p><p>I wanted this first chapter to emulate the first episode of RWBY, but a lot of changes had to be made because of a few assumptions about the world of the story. I ultimately decided that, while faunus as a people exist, Dust and semblances don't, effectively replacing RWBY's magic system with JoJo's. So, since Dust doesn't exist, I needed an alternative location for Roman to rob. For a number of reasons I will leave purposefully vague, I decided on a museum. Ruby happens to be there to study, and she just-so-happens to have a tremendous sense of justice and apparent superpowers. Conflict ensues.</p><p>The last thing I needed was Stand powers for both Ruby and Roman, which came with their own complications. The first version of this story had the Stand powers just be the characters' semblances, but I didn't feel like all of them fit the theme of a Stand power. At the time I was writing the first chapter, the assumption I was working under was that Ruby's semblance just made her fast, but "speed" is an attribute that all Stands possess in varying degrees. For reasons I will leave purposefully vague again, I came to the conclusion that Ruby is relatively new to having a Stand, to the point that she doesn't know what all it can do beyond being quite fast and precise. Roman, meanwhile, doesn't actually have a Semblance, so I had to improvise. I went with giving him a power that made him better at being a thief, and came to the idea of him passing through walls and barriers. Not exactly the most useful for fighting, but then not all Stand powers are.</p><p>Anyhow, that's the rough process I went through to write this first chapter. I'll probably add more notes to the other chapters as I go, but I promise those won't run nearly as long as this one; just something to tack on to the end of the chapter to inform some of my choices. Sorry for writing a dissertation here that many of you likely won't even read. TL;DR: There was a lot going on with this story's conception and I wanted to talk a bit about why things about it are the way that they are.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Cold as Ice, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After Ruby comes home injured, Yang has a sickening feeling in the middle of the night. That feeling is given a reason to be when Yang is cornered the next day by a Stand that manipulates ice.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Xiao Long Residence, Patch, 23:10, 7 miles outside Vale City</p><hr/><p>Ruby sat at the table in the dining room, holding an ice pack against her bruised collarbone. It didn’t feel broken, thank god, but it was going to hurt to move for a while. The stern lecture she was currently receiving from her sister wasn’t doing her any favors, either. “You know we’re supposed to keep this on the D.L.,” Yang said, packing away the first aid kit. “This is the fourth time you’ve nearly outed us, and now you’ve gotten yourself hurt!”</p><p><em> “Someone </em> had to stop them,” Ruby argued. “They were threatening people!”</p><p>“Then call the cops! Using your Stand to beat up criminals is so irresponsible. I shouldn’t have to tell you all of this!”</p><p>“The cops wouldn’t be able to -!”</p><p>“Yes they would! Having this power isn’t a pass to say you’re the ‘only one’ who can deal with every purse snatcher and jewel thief you come across.”</p><p>“Yang, this time was different!” Ruby stood up to emphasize her point. “These guys were organized, and one of them had a Stand!”</p><p>“I don’t -!” Yang stopped. “Wait.”</p><p>“They took out the security at the museum, it looked like they were planning this for a while.”</p><p>“Hold on, back up.” Yang waved. “One of them had a <em> Stand?” </em></p><p>“Yeah,” Ruby sat back down, “the boss, he looked like. I-I thought it was crazy, too. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it in the moment. I just didn’t want him to hurt anyone in the museum.”</p><p>Yang tapped her chin in thought. Up until recently, they had been under the assumption they were the only ones with powers like this. It had been Principal Ozpin, the only other person they had met who had this ability, who dubbed their collective powers as “Stands.” As Ruby explained what had happened at the museum, another fact occurred to Yang. “He <em> called </em> it his Stand?”</p><p>Ruby nodded. “That means either he knows the Principal…”</p><p>“...Or somebody else told him about it.”</p><p>The older sister thought a bit longer, finally standing up to put the first aid kit back where she found it. “We’ll call Ozpin in the morning. I think this qualifies as an emergency, but there’s no telling if he’ll answer this late. There’s nothing else we can do about it right now.”</p><p>“But he’s still -!”</p><p>Ruby winced again at the bag of ice on her shoulder. “Go get some rest, Rubes. You’re not going out this late in your condition.” After a moment’s consideration, she gave her sister a reassuring look. “You did everything you could. Thanks to you, nobody was seriously hurt; I call that a win for Ruby!”</p><p>“Alright,” the redhead responded softly. “Thanks, Yang.” The two of them shared a hug, and Ruby started for her bed.</p><hr/><p>Yang woke with a start. Looking over at her nightstand, she saw that it was just after three in the morning. From her position in bed, she could hear Ruby snoozing in the next room.</p><p>She had a gross feeling. Whether that feeling was simply the taste of her own breath, she wasn’t certain. It felt as if something was amiss. She switched on her lamp, finding her room to be just how she left it when she went to sleep. Deciding that washing that feeling down would probably do the trick, she shuffled out of bed to get a glass of water from the kitchen.</p><p><em> This is freaky, </em> Yang thought, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face. <em> It feels like someone was just watching me in bed… </em> She shivered. <em> If what Ruby said was true, that guy at the museum could walk through walls. But he’s not in the house, is he? I’m sure we would have heard him. </em></p><p>She felt something prod her leg. Glancing down, Yang found their dog, Zwei, looking back up at her. “Hey, boy,” she whispered. “You can’t sleep either?” The teen took a swig from her glass before kneeling down to scratch him behind the ear. Water in hand, Yang led Zwei to Ruby’s room. But once they made it to the door, Zwei began to fidget. Yang had heard somewhere that dogs were sensitive to their owners’ emotional state. Was he worried about her? Her feeling was only made worse when she reached for the knob. Her stomach churned, and her heart pounded in her ears. She opened the door…</p><p>...and found nothing.</p><p>Yang let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. Ruby’s room was the same disarray it always was. Ruby herself was sound asleep in bed, sprawled halfway over the covers with the latest issue of <em> Biweekly Ballistics </em>. Looking around didn’t reveal anything untoward either. With a sigh of relief, and with Zwei refusing to leave her side, Yang shut the door.</p><p>“Come on,” she said, giving the canine another couple of pats. Turning to return to her room, she was surprised to see that she had manifested her Stand, [Dragonfire], which now was looking around for whatever unseen threat Yang had conjured up. Armor like overlapping bronze scales adorned its otherwise black-and-violet body, and it wore the skull of a mythic reptile as a helmet surrounded by a blazing golden mane. On each of its arms were glass gauges, both of which were empty. She dismissed the construct, wiping her brow with her forearm. The feeling had subsided by now, and the blonde was able to finally catch her breath. <em> I’ve never felt anything like that before… </em></p><p>Zwei in tow, she returned to bed with a yawn. She was exhausted.</p><hr/><p><b>Stand Name:</b> [Dragonforce]</p><p><b>Stand Master:</b> Yang Xiao Long</p><p><b>Power:</b> A</p><p><b>Speed:</b> C</p><p><b>Range:</b> E</p><p><b>Persistence:</b> A</p><p><b>Precision:</b> C</p><p><b>Potential:</b> B</p><hr/><p>The following morning, Yang dragged herself out of bed. Last night’s panic was gone, but she still remained on her toes. As best she could, at any rate.</p><p>After brushing her teeth to rid herself of her morning breath, she was dismayed to learn that they were out of milk. Hearing that Ruby was already on the phone⏤presumably with Principal Ozpin⏤and she not wanting to munch on dry Pumpkin Pete’s for breakfast, she decided to go into town to get some. Maybe some air would even do her some good.</p><p>The motorcycle ride to the grocery store was ultimately uneventful, though Yang was thankful for the cool wind to wake her up. However, as she entered the shop, she was met by that eerie feeling again; not as pronounced as it had been last night, but remarkably the same. She looked around, the morning crowd being remarkable only in how thin it was today. Not wanting to stick around, she made her way to the dairy section.</p><p>On her way to the back of the store, Yang swore she saw something moving past the aisle ahead. In her elevated state, she could make out a wire-thin figure that seemed to skate past. She felt like something bad was going to happen, and that feeling only became more pronounced as she advanced. <em> I’m sure it’s not, but… is that the Stand Ruby fought? </em> In her haze, [Dragonfire] materialized next to her again, preemptively guarding against anything that may come. <em> I’m worried that, whatever happens, I’ll end up wrecking the store if I have to use my Stand. Gotta get a grip… </em></p><p>“My, my,” Yang heard a young woman’s voice say. “So you’re a Stand user after all.” The blonde turned about, finding no-one who could have said that. As she returned her attention to the end of the aisle, though, that figure appeared again. It was slim, clad in what seemed to be a white-and-blue gown draped over polished silver armor. Its face was covered by a translucent blue veil, and in one hand it wielded a long, thin blade. Cold air rolled off of it in waves, casting frost onto the ground around it. “From the look of things, not a very experienced one at that,” the voice continued, seemingly emanating from the figure. “I’ll bet you’ve never even seen another Stand before.”</p><p>Yang stood her ground. “I’ve seen enough to know I can beat you. Show yourself and I’ll try to make it quick.”</p><p>“Ohoho! Such bravado! I must wonder where you and that girl get it from. Oh well…”</p><p>The enemy Stand was upon her, Yang having just enough time to defend against the attack with her own.</p><p>“...It won’t matter once I’ve shredded you and your novice Stand!”</p><p><em> ‘That girl?’ Does she mean Ruby? </em> [Dragonforce] repelled the enemy’s sword, just missing a punch as she pirouetted away. The foe took a fencing stance, locking eyes with Yang. <em> Damn, it’s fast! But it’s not so different from Ruby’s Stand; that might buy some time. Now, if only I could get in close… </em></p><p>Yang charged forward, her Stand ready to lay down a world of hurt. No matter what attack she threw out, though, nothing seemed to connect, either by being evaded or just as easily parried aside with a demoralizing, “Useless!” Her comparatively lumbering [Dragonfire] just wasn’t able to keep up with this enemy.</p><p>After about the tenth parry, the enemy Stand rallied. “If you’re done making a fool of yourself,” it said, “I’ll happily cut you to ribbons!”</p><p>True to her word, her Stand began to retaliate against [Dragonfire], inflicting a series of cuts across its hardened exterior and, by extension, Yang’s body. <em> I can’t keep going like this forever. There has to be away to beat this thing! </em> Yang pushed back on the sword-wielding stand with her own, just managing to slip past it as it righted itself.</p><p>“That’s an intriguing strategy,” her enemy taunted, “but if you think running and hiding will save you, you’re sorely mistaken!”</p><p>The fell stand plunged its sword into the ground, causing a sheet of ice to spread across the floor and under Yang. Unable to keep herself upright, Yang slipped onto her back, barely managing to roll out of the way of the subsequent followup attack. With just enough momentum, she managed to slide out of the ice puddle and back onto solid ground where, incidentally, she found what she had come here for in the first place.</p><p>“I’m honestly a little embarrassed,” the foe said, skating lackadaisically out of the aisle and into the fridge section. “Why send me to dispose of a novice Stand user like you?”</p><p>As it approached, the part of the store grew even colder around her. <em> First freezing the ground, now the air. Is this her Stand’s power? </em> Yang began to plot, rather than listen to her enemy gloat. <em> At least now that I’ve cooled down I can think more clearly, but that isn’t going to help if I’m turned into a freezer kebab! </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Going into this chapter, all I knew was that I wanted it to start with Ruby and Yang arguing about the former's use of her Stand, lead into the scene at night with Yang, and end with the first portion of the Stand battle, but I was so stumped for material; this chapter must have gone through something like ten rewrites. The late-night scene was probably the hardest part to write because, on top of introducing the concept of this universal "Stand pressure," I wanted to sell the sense of dread and anxiety that Yang was feeling, but I've only ever written horror one other time and, frankly, it wasn't very good.</p><p>Yang's Stand went through some changes over the course of trying to write the night scene. With [Red Like Roses], I wanted to capture the essence of a superhero, with the cape and the speed and all that. Where Ruby's Stand was designed for speed and accuracy, I wanted a counterbalance with [Dragonforce]: a slower, heavier-hitting Stand that can shrug off attacks. My immediate thought was something like a paladin, which is where the armor came from, but Yang's style of fighting seems more brutal than a knight to me, so then I thought "gladiator." I also wanted it to have a dragon skull for a helmet because the image was cool in my head.</p><p>The grocery store where Yang fights the enemy Stand user is actually modeled in my mind as a real store near where I live. There's a freezer aisle in the middle with everything else spreading out from that, there's a bakery on the right when you enter, and the meat and dairy are all the way at the back. It's a nice store where I buy most of my coffee, but I digress.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Cold as Ice, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yang manages to defeat the ice Stand, and brings her home to interrogate her. Over the phone, Ozpin explains that the Stand User is one Weiss Schnee who, when she awakens, finds she can't remember the events that had just transpired.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The unidentified Stand approached from the aisle, skating along the track of ice it produced under itself. Yang rose to a crouching position. <em> She’s too fast, </em> she thought, gritting her teeth as she watched the gauge on [Dragonfire]’s arm, <em> and I’m not sure I can take much more. I have to end this! </em></p><p>Before the enemy could get closer, Yang lobbed a gallon of milk at it from the shelf next to her. The cold Stand slashed through the container with ease, its contents bursting out and summarily freezing into a mass of dairy in front of it. Yang, using the opportunity presented by her foe’s obscured vision, ran in on her target. “If that was your final gambit, then I can’t help but feel sorry for -”</p><p>The taunting Stand user was interrupted by the sudden sound of shattering milk as a bronze fist smashed through. [Dragonfire]’s attack collided with the enemy Stand’s shoulder, sending it flying with a sudden burst of force. From her position, Yang could see the foe’s sword arm snap off at the point of impact as the Stand landed roughly three meters away, slamming against a swiveling kiosk loaded with half-priced pastries.</p><p>Yang took a moment to catch her breath before walking to where the enemy wound up. “I guess I hit you too hard. That, or you’re not as tough as I gave you credit for,” she panted, now standing over the inert Stand. “Damn, I really hope I didn’t just kill someone…!” </p><p>Of course Principal Ozpin had informed Yang and Ruby that any damage inflicted on their Stands would reflect on them. Granted, this lesson had come shortly after the two of them had tried to see how they stacked up to each other. [Dragonfire] hit [Rose Red] just a bit too hard and jammed Ruby’s elbow as a result. It was probably safe to say that, if other Stand users were going to start popping up around them, then they must follow the same rules.</p><p>And Yang had just taken this one’s arm off.</p><p>She looked around frantically, but found nobody at a glance who seemed particularly injured. The lack of screaming wasn’t exactly helping her either. Yang would just have to search the aisles one by one until she found someone on the floor.</p><p>As she made it to the first row, however, she was tackled to the ground. The enemy Stand, not quite as defeated as Yang had thought, had pounced on her, its remaining arm now formed into a frozen spike. Yang was quick to call [Dragonfire] to fight off the attack. “Did you honestly think this battle was over already?” the Stand’s user growled, her voice now a faint, chilling echo. [Dragonfire]’s grip on the spike slipped as the enemy raised it again. “My Stand can create and shape ice around it however I please. Its form is immaterial!”</p><p>She brought the spike down, trying to pierce through [Dragonfire] to get to Yang. “You can’t touch me!” Again and again, the Stand hammered into [Dragonfire]. As it did, its shattered arm began to reform, slowly coalescing from frozen vapor.</p><p>“Oh thank god…” Yang breathed. One of [Dragonfire]’s hands clasped back around the enemy Stand’s wrist. No longer hampered by her want to hold back on her opponent, she heard the satisfying crack of ice in her own Stand’s grip. “Honestly, you had me worried there for a minute.” Yang continued, “Well, as long as we’re sharing, you might like to hear what [Dragonfire] can do.”</p><p>The rime Stand pounded futilely against [Dragonfire] with its icy stump. It stopped, though, once it saw that the gauges on its arms were now about a third of the way full. “My Stand,” the blonde explained, rising to her feet and dragging the enemy along with her, “can absorb and store impact forces, and I can release all of that force whenever I need it afterward.” Her foe by now was trying to pull itself free, but to no avail. “I don’t think I strictly <em> need </em> to use it to finish you off at this point, but I do <em> have </em> to use it.”</p><p>[Dragonfire] dropped the enemy Stand, reeling back during its hangtime before coming down with another heavy blow. Her target’s form broke into splinters, its remaining limbs crumbled to chunks of ice. The only remaining portion was the Stand’s head, its veil having apparently come off from the impact as it rolled to a halt on the tiled floor, more fragments chipping off in its wake.</p><p>“Them’s the <em> breaks,” </em> Yang smirked.</p><p>After a moment, she paused. <em> Still no screaming, </em> she thought. <em> Not even a real commotion in the other aisles. </em> Remaining on her guard, she approached what was left of her antagonist. Its fractured parts littered the aisle, and Yang felt like she constantly had to watch for any sudden movement.</p><p>“You…” Yang heard the voice of the Stand’s user again. Four thin, needle-like legs emerged from the resting head of the ice Stand, dragging it upright like a morbid spider. “You <em> barbarian! </em> ” The head growled. “You’ve shattered my beautiful Stand! It took me <em> days </em>to accumulate enough ice to make that. What do you have to say for - woah!”</p><p>Yang had [Dragonfire] lift the head, in so doing rendering the Stand basically harmless. “So, this is all that’s left?” She turned it over to inspect it. The shell of ice that made the head was largely transparent. Inside, Yang could see a sphere of silver metal, not much larger than a baseball. Attached to the sphere was a black streak of some substance that wormed down into the frozen head’s neck like a brain stem.</p><p>“Unhand my Stand, you dolt!” The head-spider spoke, its legs trying to find purchase on nothing. “It’s bad enough that I have to retreat and tell them that I failed to kill you, but suffering this indignity -!”</p><p>“I don’t think you’re in any position to argue like that.” [Dragonfire] tossed the Stand up and down a couple of times. “The ice just surrounds your Stand, do I have that right?” Yang asked semi-casually, continuing her search for the user. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, as well as that anxious feeling leading up to the conflict, Yang could feel her leg trying to give out. She figured she’d taken more damage than she had initially realized. She would have to take stock once she was home.</p><p><em> Thank God for customers who don’t investigate, </em> she thought. <em> I don’t think I’m ready to try and explain that. </em></p><p>“A protective,” the helpless head explained, snapping Yang back to reality, “and until recently impervious armor, yes. That information won’t be enough to find me, however.”</p><p>“So the metal ball in there is the actual Stand, then?”</p><p>The Stand user seemed to catch onto her train of thought. “You wouldn’t dare.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t I?”</p><p>[Dragonfire] began to squeeze the ball of ice. A series of cracks immediately began to form, and after just a moment the ice broke, leaving the metal sphere completely defenseless. It was smooth and, sensibly, extremely cold to the touch. The black substance writhed in the open air like a malign worm. Something about it being connected to this immaculately polished sphere of metal felt wrong, but then this was the first Stand Yang had seen that wasn’t generally shaped like a person. Her own Stand pinched the black mass between its fingers, holding the whole thing at arm’s length. “This’ll go by a lot quicker if you just come out.”</p><p>“I-I don’t know what you think you’re going to do,” her opponent said unconvincingly, “but as soon as you try, I’ll- I’ll freeze your novice Stand’s fingers off!”</p><p>Yang shrugged. “I’ll take that bet.”</p><p>Her Stand started to swing the construct, slowly at first, before picking up enough momentum to sling it around in a circle. Yang found during this that the tendril had some elasticity to it so, once it was clear that the spinning did little more than elicit complaints, she began to smack it around like a paddleball. In doing this, two things happened. The first is that it took little time to find the Stand’s user, as the shelves down the sixth aisle jostled when something - presumably <em> someone </em> - slammed into them with an incriminating “Ouch!”</p><p>To think, the user was just two aisles up from where Yang entered.</p><p>The second, possibly more concerning thing that happened, is that the force of Yang’s paddleballing caused the connection between the black mass and silver ball to ultimately sever, launching the ball some distance through the air before it vanished.</p><p>“Shit!”</p><p>Yang ran for the aisle, finding the unconscious perpetrator slumped on the floor with her back to the shelf. She looked right around Ruby’s or her own age, with light skin and long white hair tied in a side ponytail. She wore a short white dress and jacket, which was lined with red fabric on the inside. One of her eyes had a scar, but as it wasn’t currently bleeding, Yang assumed she had acquired it before the fight. She was still breathing, which afforded Yang a sigh of relief. <em>She kind of looks familiar... </em> <em> Have we met? </em></p><p>The blonde held up the black tendril. The thing writhed in [Dragonfire]’s grip a moment longer, eventually falling still and evaporating. <em> Weird, </em> she thought. <em> But I guess I can’t judge another person’s Stand just for being weird. </em> Yang looked around. “I should get you out of here,” she said to the unresponsive Stand user. “Principal Ozpin might know what to do about you.”</p><p>She pulled her adversary up, slinging one arm over her shoulder to carry her out.</p><hr/><p>Ruby sat in her room while she chewed on a toaster pastry. Yang had vanished to somewhere this morning, and their father wouldn’t be home from his trip for a while yet, so the redhead was left to feed Zwei and fend for herself for the time being. The incident at the museum the night before had left her sore all over, and she was currently regaling Principal Ozpin over the phone with her exploits. “Next thing I knew,” she said, “he fell through the floor. I still don’t know where he went.”</p><p><em> “I see,” </em> the principal replied. <em> “The best advice I can give at this time is to remain on your guard. From the sound of things, this thief was more practiced with his Stand than you, but the fact that you could send him running is proof that your training is paying off, I think.” </em></p><p>“Aw, shucks!”</p><p>There was a knock on the front door. “Ruby!” She heard Yang call from outside. “Can you open the door?”</p><p>“Coming!” Ruby strode out of her room and to the door, phone still pressed to her ear. “This is all really crazy. I didn’t think I’d ever run into someone else who had a…-”</p><p>As Ruby opened the door, there stood her sister on the other side. Her clothes were shredded, and she was covered with cuts and scrapes. One arm was wrapped around the waist of an unconscious girl who, compared to Yang, seemed to be pretty much okay otherwise. In the blonde’s opposite hand, she carried a gallon of 2% milk, which she held up to hand to Ruby. “Do you mind taking this?” she asked with a grin. “My arms are tired…”</p><p><em> “Miss Rose?” </em> she heard from the phone. <em> “Are you still there?” </em></p><hr/><p>Once the milk was in the fridge and Yang was cleaned up, back in a fresh set of clothes, the sisters convened with Principal Ozpin over the phone once again. “Did you get the pictures we sent?” Ruby asked.</p><p><em> “Yes, I have them,” </em> came the response over the speaker. <em> “The girl currently lying on your couch is Miss Weiss Schnee. Her father is the owner of a rather large mining operation in Atlas.” </em></p><p>Yang snapped her fingers. “That’s where I know her from! I saw her on the cover of a magazine at the gas station. Apparently she’s this talented singer, and not too shabby at golf.”</p><p>“Well, we can add Stand user to her list of achievements,” Ruby said.</p><p>“Yeah. Tough one, too.”</p><p><em> “Intriguing…” </em> Ozpin trailed off, before continuing. <em> “Now, Miss Xiao Long, do you mind describing what you were feeling when you encountered Miss Schnee?” </em></p><p>Yang thought a moment. “It was like… this pressure in the air was threatening to crush me. Like something in the back of my head knew there was something wrong.”</p><p>“I think I felt something like that the other day,” Ruby added. “Fighting that robber felt way different to fighting other crooks on the street. A lot more focused, intense.”</p><p><em> “Indeed.” </em> The Principal cleared his throat. <em> “I suppose now is as good a time as any. I had suspected for a time, but this confirms it: there are far more Stand users than we had initially realized. That pressure you felt is almost certain to come again; it is a natural force that draws Stand users to one another, like gravity draws a stone to the ground. What happens next could be a number of things, all decided by those involved. I urge you, as my pupils, to further hone your talents so you can continue to respond as these foes come. Like any mundane martial art, looking for trouble will only breed it.” </em></p><p>As Ozpin lectured, Zwei entered the living room from the kitchen. He smelled something like he’d never smelled before coming from this direction, and his curiosity was getting the better of him. Ruby and Yang were on the phone with someone, and a person Zwei had never seen before was lying on the couch. She smelled like the flowers in the backyard garden, but mixed with something he couldn’t recognize. Or, rather, like the flowers, but without the telltale scent of dirt and fertilizer. What was that extra scent he was smelling? He approached the girl, sniffing and licking her hand to try and identify what that smell was.</p><p>Weiss stirred, waking to find she was being accosted by dog slobber. She shooed the hound away, and rose to see she was in a completely unfamiliar house. She fought the urge to rub her eyes with her soiled hand. “Where…?”</p><p>Ruby and Yang turned, seeing the latter’s recent opponent now awake. The girl’s eyes opened wide. Swiftly, she vaulted over the back of the couch, brandishing the first thing she could get her hands on and pointing it at the pair from her new position. “I demand you tell me who you are and where you’ve taken me!” she said, uneasy on her feet. It was only a moment before she resorted to using the umbrella she had grabbed more as a crutch than a weapon.</p><p><em> “It sounds like your guest is awake,” </em> Ozpin chimed in.</p><p>“Who is that?” she commanded. “Over the phone. Is that your boss? Whatever he’s giving you, I’ll pay twice that to let me go!”</p><p>
  <em> “It’s alright, Miss Schnee, nobody’s here to hurt you.” </em>
</p><p>“Speak for yourself,” Yang folded her arms. “She tore up my third-favorite shirt.”</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”</p><p>Unfazed, the principal continued. <em> “You can call me Ozpin; I’m the principal of the high school in Vale. These are my students, Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long.” </em> The girls greeted her before he spoke again. <em> “You seem to be in a state of delirium. Can you summon your Stand?” </em></p><p>“My…? How do you know about that?”</p><p>The sisters looked at each other, nodding and calling their own Stands. “We just want to make sure you’re alright.” Ruby tried.</p><p>The girl leered at the two of them, finally relaxing somewhat as she processed the new information. With some effort, her Stand appeared next to her: a silver orb floating in the air, adorned with a veil across what could be considered the front. Yang took note that it was still missing that black tail she had ripped off, but it obviously wasn't an issue since Weiss was basically fine.</p><p>Ruby walked around the couch to look more closely, but was stopped by Weiss before she could get too close. “Cool! It’s completely different to mine and Yang’s Stands. What does it do? What is it called?”</p><p>“It controls and manipulates ice,” Weiss explained. “And it doesn’t have a name; it’s not a pet.”</p><p>“That’s no fun.” Yang tapped her chin. “With its ice powers, and just the whole way that you are…” She pounded her fist into her palm. “I’ve got it! We’ll call it [Queen of Ice]!”</p><p>Ruby rolled her eyes as Weiss said pointedly, “I am <em> not </em> calling it that.”</p><hr/><p><b>Stand Name:</b> [Cold as Ice]</p><p><b>Stand Master:</b> Weiss Schnee</p><p><b>Power:</b> D</p><p><b>Speed:</b> B</p><p><b>Range:</b> C</p><p><b>Persistence:</b> C</p><p><b>Precision:</b> B</p><p><b>Potential:</b> C</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kind of a longer one this time.</p><p>Weiss' Stand was a fun one to come up with. Everywhere I turn, people's idea of Weiss' Stand always comes back to the Arma Gigas, her primary summon in RWBY, and that was the basis for the initial draft I had, but I thought it wasn't interesting enough. So, I gave her something a bit more technical to play into her role as the group's "mage character" in the show, drawing on inspiration from Iggy's [The Fool] and bits of Pet Shop's [Horus] in Part 3: A little sphere with the ability to make ice into whatever shape its user wants.</p><p>The original draft had Yang and Ruby not know who Weiss was so I could have this big reveal at the end, but then I realized that half of Weiss' character is that she's basically Kardashian levels of rich and famous, so there's not a reason that, between them and Ozpin, not one of them would recognize her. I went with Ozpin because he's pretty consistently level-headed.</p><p>I also had a joke that I wanted to use at the end of the chapter that gets lost in translation since I've locked myself into using these dub names. It's supposed to go "Yang names the Stand, someone says something like 'that name will never stick,' and the Stand card appears immediately after with the name." I wanted to keep that spirit alive, but the dub names kind of ruin the joke, but I'm leaving it in because I thought it was funny and it's too late to go back and rewrite the entire chapter to name the Stand in the middle.</p><p>Oh, and don't worry. [Cold as Ice] is still in one piece at the end.</p>
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